Christine grabbed her purse out of the limo and headed inside. The day filled with shopping had left her rather exhausted. She simply wanted to go crawl into bed. Maybe Erik would be home by now. Maybe he would play something for her.

Christine made it halfway up the stairs when a man came out of the shadows at the top. It wasn't Erik. Erik didn't make so much noise when he appeared. Erik was silent like death creeping in at night. This guy was apparently wanted his presence known.

Christine took a step down when he began down the stairs. She turned down the stairs to find another man approaching her from that side as well. She was out of options. There was no place for her to go.

As she stood there, the man from behind grabbed her. Christine could think of only one thing to do and that was to scream for Erik and hope that he had come home early.

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"ERIK!" David and Raphael dropped the bags and started running the moment they hear Christine screaming. They made it through the service entrance and raced up the front stairs.

They both knew that Christine would never scream in the house unless something was

terribly wrong. Screaming in the house meant Erik would hear it, and Erik had strictly forbid Christine screaming at all. They had to find her or less it would be their heads that they would have to worry about.

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"What have I told you about screaming, Christine?" The Sultana stood up from her chair and started to make her way to Christine.

Christine had started to shake in the man's arms. Why were they here? What did they want? Christine suddenly found herself free of the man's grip.

The Sultana didn't like the way Christine was refusing to answer her question, despite the fact that her servant had stepped away from Christine. She raised her hand and smacked Christine across the face. The blow knocked Christine to the floor.

Christine felt a burning sensation and then a sting in her cheek. She stayed where she had fallen, afraid to encounter another similar attack.

The Sultana squatted to be on the same level as Christine. She grabbed Christine's chin and forced her to look at her.

"If you don't step away from her, I will be forced to kill him." Both Christine and the Sultana looked up to see Raphael with a gun aimed at the back of one of the Sultana's menservants.

The Sultana simply smiled, pulling a dagger from her side. She held it to Christine's cheek and began to press in. "Pity. I'll have to hurt Erik's favorite pet." She pressed the blade a bit harder.

A single tear drop ran down Christine's face. "Raphael, would you please get me some ice?"

"Miss, I don't think..."

"Please. Just get me ice."

Raphael sighed and took a few steps back before he was out of the room. He leaned in towards David and handed him the gun. "Watch them."

The Sultana pleased with her results took and shielded her dagger. She frowned when Christine leaned back, trying to get the Sultana to finally let go of her chin. The Sultana pulled her back in. "Don't you ever scream again. We wouldn't wait you to ruin that beautiful voice of yours, now would we?"

Christine shook her head as it was released. She scooted back and stood up. "What are you doing here?"

"I've decided to come see why my pets enjoy being in this pathetic country more than at home where they belong."

"Erik's not here."

"Obviously. Where did he go?"

"I don't know. He didn't tell me. Just he had to go on a business trip."

"Then, we will just have to wait here for him, won't we?"

"Yes." Christine sat silent for a moment before she spoke up. "May I go now?"

"Of course." The Sultana smiled as she watched Christine leave. It was nice to know that Christine still feared her.

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Christine picked up her purse that had fallen on the stairs and walked to her room, locking the door behind her. She sat on the bed and began digging through the purse. She found her cell phone.

It took her a moment of looking through the contacts before she finally found Erik's number. She listened to it ring once before going straight to voicemail. She left a brief message, not knowing exactly what to say.

"Erik, it's Christine. I just wanted to call to say I am sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I wasn't looking for a fight. I guess what I am really trying to say is I miss you. Come home soon. Please."

Christine hung up the phone and set it down on her night-stand. She had nothing left to say to the world. She was exhausted and simply wanted Erik to make everything better, even if all he did was talk a thousand miles away.

She laid down and went to sleep, hoping she would wake up in Erik's arms.

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A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. More to come. Please review and let me know what you think.